If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

ESPN: Coach takes up Dwight Howard's cause

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy says he thinks Dwight Howard has shown restraint on the court this season despite picking up the league's first suspension for excessive technical fouls.

Van Gundy quoted an Elias Sports Bureau statistic Monday that notes Howard has been fouled 593 times this season without any of those calls being labeled flagrant.

Howard is serving a one-game suspension Monday night against the Trail Blazers after picking up his 16th technical of the season against Chicago on Friday. For every two technicals he receives the remainder of the season he also must sit out a game.

"I think he has settled down," Van Gundy said. "He's gotten two [technicals] in the last month [and] he hasn't gotten any for arguing. His problems were early in the year when he got a lot of arguing calls. Lately what he's gotten is two for retaliating for hits he's taken after the whistle and I think to be quite honest he's already had great restraint on those plays.

"... You guys can estimate how many of those were hard hits and how many of those were above the shoulders ... I would say his control is amazing."

Howard said Sunday after the Magic's practice that he must try not to let officiating affect how he plays going forward.

"It's very tough, but I've just got to do it," Howard told reporters. "I think it's like they want to make an example out of me, but I'll just stay positive and continue to do all the things that I do to bring fun to the game. That's all I can do. I'm not a bad guy. I'm not a hothead because I get techs, and I think that's the message that people want to put across."

Asked if the Magic had made any case to the league office about how they feel Howard has been excessively fouled, Van Gundy said he thinks outside input doesn't carry much weight at the league office.

"This is the system David Stern and his minions like it," Van Gundy said. "So that's the system you have ... I certainly can't have an opinion because David Stern, like a lot or leaders we've seen in this world lately, don't really tolerate other people's opinion or free speech or anything. So I'm not really allowed to have an opinion. So it's up to him. He decides and he likes the system he has."

The Magic will start forward Ryan Anderson in place of Howard Monday. It will be Anderson's 12th start this season.

Any guesses as to how much he gets fined for that comment? I have to admit I laughed a bit when I read that quote.

Re: ESPN: Coach takes up Dwight Howard's cause

NBA commissioner David Stern said Thursday that he won't speak to Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy personally about recent comments critical of him, but that he doesn't expect Van Gundy to make similar remarks in the future.

"I would render a guess ... that we won't be hearing from him for the rest of the season," Stern said Thursday on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio."

"When he stops and reads what he said and realizes what he did, he will say no more."

Asked by host Cowherd what he could do to Van Gundy, Stern said: "I have a feeling that some modicum of self-restraint will cause Stan and the team for which he works to rein in his aberrant behavior."

Van Gundy, defending Magic center Dwight Howard, who was suspended after getting his 16th technical of the season, said Monday that Howard gets no protection from the league's referees.

Van Gundy was asked if the Magic had a case with the league office about their feeling that Howard has been excessively fouled, and he responded that he doesn't think outside input is heard in the NBA offices.

"This is the system David Stern and his minions like," Van Gundy said. "So that's the system you have. ... I certainly can't have an opinion because David Stern, like a lot of leaders we've seen in this world lately, don't really tolerate other people's opinion or free speech or anything. So I'm not really allowed to have an opinion. So it's up to him.

"He decides and he likes the system he has."

Stern initially told Cowherd he would not respond to Van Gundy, but then said: "I'm going to engage in private discussions at this point with this franchise."

After that, asked if Van Gundy's comments bothered him personally, Stern said: "It didn't bother me personally. I see somebody whose team isn't performing, whose star player was suspended, who seems to be fraying ..."

Stern added: "... Whatever the pressures are that Stan is feeling, that he fell to whatever position he's in to say something like this, it made me sad."